The Skeleton Prince
by The Emerald Shapeshifter
Summary: REUPLOADED! There's a secret in the Robot...hidden where no one would find it. But it's come to light, and now they need to find it before the darkness does. T because I forget what I've written.
1. Chapter 1

**The Skeleton Prince**

**A SRMTHFG Fanfiction**

We have the Alchemist: Skeleton King. We have Velina: Skeleton Queen. But, the world is just starting to learn about the legendary Skeleton Prince. Now it is a race across the galaxy to find this mysterious person. Velina and Mandarin want him to help bring back their master, Skeleton King. The Hyperforce just wants him so Mandarin and Velina won't use him. But… what neither side knows is…

The Prince is closer than they think.

And he knows.

**Chapter One: Archives**

"I have found ancient archives telling of a mysterious person known as the Skeleton Prince," Mandarin announced to Velina. They were in a cave on another world—one very near to the Hyperforce, who were just returning to Shuggazoom.

"Skeleton _Prince_?!" Velina shouted. "Let me see." She grabbed the small tablet the demon monkey was holding. She read it.

_"The Skeleton Prince is an ancient being. He has been reincarnated through the millennia, starting at the very beginning of time itself. The others reincarnated along with him are known as the Skeleton King and Skeleton Queen._

_"But the very arrival of good in the universe caused the most recent Skeleton Prince to go missing. No one has found him. No one is looking. They say the reincarnation cycle was destroyed when the Prince vanished._

_"Three items may lead you to him. The Shadow Skull, on Amere, is told to lead to pure darkness. The Black-Night Blade was said to be his weapon, and may hold part of his soul. And lastly…_

_"The Demons' Stone."_

_"But. When all is in place and the Prince appears to you… Don't expect to live."_

"I have never heard of these artifacts before," Velina said.

"You aren't meaning to say that we are going after the Skeleton Prince!" Mandarin said. "He's probably dead…"

"I doubt he is," Velina retorted. "We must find him, before the Hyperforce learns of this."

Too late. They already know.

_I'm Back! It's November 14, 2012. This is an OLLLLDDDD story, one of the first things I've ever written. By popular demand, I'm reuploading the Disaster Trilogy! See You Soon!_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Amere**

"So…" Chiro said. He crossed him arms. "'Skeleton Prince, huh?"

While Chiro didn't seem surprised by Antauri's story, the rest were shocked. "So, now we've got a whole family of skeletons to fight?!" Sparx asked.

"Well, if you put it that way…yes," Antauri said. "But some believe the Skeleton Prince to be dead. I know otherwise. I have never seen him, but I sense Mandarin and Velina already have learned of the Shadow Skull, and will soon go to Amere to find it."

"But," he added. "Luck is on our side. Shruikan, the Shadow Dragon who rules Amere, will not give it up easily."

"Shruikan?" Nova asked. "Wasn't he that dragon we met on Orre?" (If you've read my fanfic _Dare You To Move_, you'd understand).

"Yes. If we tell him what is going on, he will lend us the Skull."

"Then let's go!" Otto said. He held out a small pendant.

"Otto, where did you get that?" Gibson asked.

"Shruikan gave it to me," Otto answered with a smile. "He said we might need it. It warps us to Amere."

So the team opened a portal to Amere, and the Super Robot was whizzed away to another world…

A world with no sun, no light, and no life.

—

"So, this is Amere, huh?" Sparx asked sarcastically as they looked at the barren world. "Nice place."

_You are here for the Shadow Skull, are you not?_ a voice from the shadows asked.

"Yes, we are," Antauri said. "May someone lead us to Sentient Shruikan?"

_No need. I am here._

Something rolled across the ground to stop at their feet. Antauri reached down and grabbed it. It was the Shadow Skull.

_Find the Skeleton Prince,_ Shruikan said. _Find the truth._

"Have you ever met him?" Chiro asked.

_No. I have met his previous incarnation, but not the current one. But, I can say this… He is near._

"What do you mean, Shruikan?" Antauri asked.

But the Shadow Dragon was gone. Blood-red eyes watched the Hyperforce from the shadows—sets of them. Lots of them.

"Let's go," Nova suggested. Everyone agreed and they ran into the Super Robot. Chiro and Antauri just walked casually into the Robot. The eyes just watched them, and as the Robot flew off, they vanished into the shadows behind them, hissing.

—

A few hours after the Hyperforce left, Velina and Mandarin landed on Amere, with their giant skeleton dragon. Velina stood up on its back and shouted, "Shruikan! Give me the Shadow Skull!"

_You're too late, witch!_ came Shruikan's cry from the darkness. _I already gave it to the Hyperforce. Are that stupid to believe I'd give the Skull to _you?_ Ha! Not in a million years._

"You old fool dragon!" Velina shouted angrily. "I will destroy you!"

She sent out dark energy blasts towards where Shruikan would be, but instead, the black dragon slinked out of the shadows _behind_ her. He let out a roar.

"Go back to the place where you came from, demon," Shruikan said. "We do not want you here. Leave at once, or you will die."

Velina was angry, but she new better than to mess with a Shadow Dragon with a temper. The red lightning-bolt shaped markings on Shruikan began to glow. Shadows poured out of the darkness. Some were like clawed shadow-beasts. Others were more like classic Earth ghosts, but more frightening. Most were just blobs of shadow that threw themselves at Velina. She yelled at the bone dragon to fly, and soon, they were flying through space, leaving Amere behind.

_I have given you the first piece of your puzzle, Hyperforce. Do not let the shadows swallow you up. If they do, I cannot do anything to help you. _


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: The Second Key**

"So," Sparx said, holding up the Shadow Skull. "This is the first thing. That was pretty easy."

"Don't expect the rest to be just the same, Sparx," Antauri said. "Shruikan is the only person we will meet along the way that will help us. I doubt anyone else will."

"You expect us to meet other shadow creatures?" Gibson inquired.

"Yes. This is a dangerous mission. I know it is wrong to abandon Shuggazoom, but we need to find the Skeleton Prince."

"And what are you going to do once you find him?" Chiro asked. He was leaning against the wall next to Antauri.

"I do not know," the silver monkey said. "Capture him before Velina and Mandarin can, is the best thing to do."

Chiro just let out a grunt. "Then what? 'Hey, Skeleton Prince, wanna stay in our Super Robot for a while? Just sit back and relax. Let's make you an honorary member of the Hyperforce!'" He shook his head. "Give me a break."

Antauri looked at Chiro. There was something troubling him, he could tell. But right now, they needed to find the next item.

But what was the next item? The Skull just sat in the middle of the room. It didn't seem to react to anything they did. Why would Shruikan give them something that didn't even want to help them?

"Why won't it work!?" Sparx shouted angrily.

"Well, Sparx, staring at it isn't gonna do anything," Otto said.

Chiro's response to the two was to reach over and grab the Skull. He calmly said, "Otto's right, Sparx. Staring _isn't_ going to help. There's only one thing you have to do."

"Well, what is it?"

"You have to ask it."

Sparx stared, dumbstruck. "You mean you have to _ask_ this thing where we go next?"

"Yeah."

"Fine! Let me try!" Sparx grabbed the Skull out of Chiro's hands and said mockingly, "O, Mighty Skull, where may we find the Skeleton Prince so we finally get rid of you?"

The Skull's response was to blast the red monkey with a dark energy attack. Sparx flew back, and the Skull seemed to fly into Chiro's hands. He laughed.

"No, Sparx, not like that," Chiro said. He held the Skull out in front of him. "Shadow Skull. Essence of the Shadow Spirit Shruikan. We are on a quest to locate the current incarnation of the Skeleton Prince. Shruikan has lent you to us for this mission. May you help us?"

Sparx was about to laugh, but the screen of the Robot flickered. A beam of light came out of the Skull and hit the screen. After a few seconds, the screen showed…a map!

Antauri stared. _How did he know what to say?_

_FOLLOW MY GUIDE TO THE NEXT ITEM YOU MUST USE TO FIND THE SKELETON PRINCE, _the Skull said. Its voice sounded like Shruikan's, but deeper.

A little black dot bleeped not too far from the Super Robot's position on the map. The map only showed planets, not where to find the item or what they would find. But this was better than nothing.

"And what, may I ask, is the item we are searching for?" Chiro asked the Skull.

It answered, _THE BLACK-NIGHT BLADE._

_THE PLANET IS KNOWN AS ANUR PHAETOS._

—

"I don't think we should be doing this," Mandarin said. The bone dragon was now following the Super Robot, at a safe distance. Velina laughed.

"Doing what?" she asked. "Finding the Skeleton Prince? We must. He should be able to bring back my master, Skeleton King!"

"But Shruikan was bad enough," Mandarin complained, sounding a little scared. "What other horrors await us now?"

"The planet we we're going to in known as Anur Phaetos," Velina stated bluntly. "That is where the Black-Night Blade rests. Among the Ectonurites."

"Anur Phaetos?" Mandarin repeated. "'Nocturnal Phantom'? Are you _sure_ we should be going _there_? No one has set foot on that planet and lived!"

"We're going," Velina said. She looked at the Super Robot. "But we shall use the Hyperforce as our own personal shield."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Ripped Away**

The Super Robot landed on the cold ground of Anur Phaetos. The feet seemed to shake as if numbed by the ground. The team carefully filed outside, wearing the small silver breathing things over their mouths.

Suddenly, a ghost flew towards the team and floated in front of them. It crossed its arms and glared at them. Then, it saw the Shadow Skull Chiro held in his arms.

"Another mortal come to command Anur Phaetos?" the ghost said.

"An Ectonurite," Gibson said, amazed. "No one has ever seen one before!"

"No, we're not here to control Anur Phaetos," Chiro said. "The Skeleton Prince."

The ghost vanished after he said that. Suddenly, a blur raced past the team with lightning speed.

"What was that?" Sparx asked.

Antauri activated his night-vision sensors. He caught sight of Mandarin racing past him, after Velina. "Velina! Mandarin! They're here!"

"We have to get the sword before they do!" Nova shouted. They all activated their jet packs and flew over the land. It looked like something out of a horror movie. The trees all looked gloomy and sad, but evil all the same. Ectonurites flew around them, but none bothered them.

They followed Velina and Mandarin to a strange-looking shrine. It looked kind of like a giant Ectonurite. The mouth was the doorway, and the two ran through it, and it closed on the Hyperforce.

"No!" Nova said. She started to pound on the door with all her might. Then, suddenly, it opened and Velina rushed out with the sword. Mandarin ran after her. They both seemed uninterested in attacking the Hyperforce.

"We lost it," Gibson said, deflated.

_Hyperforce. Do not linger here and despair. There is one more item._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: The Legend of the Skeleton Prince**

"We need to get the last item," Antauri said as the Super Robot chased Velina through space.

"Why should we?" Sparx asked. "We don't even know what to do with them once we get them! For all we know, they could destroy the universe."

"Sparx is right," Gibson said. "We need to know what we're up against."

So, they looked up all they could find on the Skeleton Prince. But they didn't find anything that answered their questions. Then, Antauri grew frustrated.

"We need to find something, soon! If we don't find anything soon, the universe will fall into the mercy of Velina and Mandarin!"

"Or the Skeleton Prince," Chiro said.

Everyone looked at him.

"I know the legend of the Skeleton Prince," Chiro continued. "A poor storyteller told me once. I thought he was just telling me another story, but he told me this was real." Chiro cleared his throat and began:

"The first Skeleton Prince lived at the near beginning of time. No one payed much attention to him. He lived, and he died. Just like a normal person. But millions of years later, he was born again. He had no memories of his previous life, only that he was named the Skeleton Prince. So, he tried to fulfill the dream he remembered from his former self." Chiro swallowed. "He waged war across the universe, conquering planet after planet, galaxy after galaxy. But after a while, he was killed in battle. But he was again reincarnated. This went on for hundreds of years, until one day.

"The Skeleton Prince disappeared.

"No one knew what happened to him. Most believe that his reincarnation cycle was destroyed. But one of the smallest theories stated this: when he was reincarnated into a person with a good soul. One so pure, the evil side of the Skeleton Prince could not take over like it had.

"The Skeleton Prince represents darkness and shadow across the universe. Everyone feared him. But now that he is supposedly gone, everyone forgot him."

The monkeys were now gathered around Chiro, sitting on the ground around him. "The man who told me this story said to me, 'I can tell ya this, son. The Skeleton Prince is alive. I know he is. And he's back.'"

The monkeys all stared at him, including Antauri.

"I know the last item we need," Chiro said confidently. "It's called the Demons' Stone. It holds the pure essence of evil itself. But, luckily, once its power is used to find the Skeleton Prince, only he can use it."

"Well, where is it, then?" Otto asked. The others seemed speechless after they had heard what Chiro said. They never knew he knew so much about their current mission.

"It's on a sacred planet called Crysignia," Chiro answered. "Crystal-Insignia. That's where they got the name. The Demons' Stone is a crystal."

"Oh," Chiro added. "We're going the wrong way. We gotta turn around."

So they turned around, while Velina and Mandarin did so as well. Soon, the shining blue planet known as Crysignia came into view.

_You can't deny the inevitable. The Skeleton Prince is alive._

_And he is coming._


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: The Demon's Stone**

"Crysignia is a crystal world almost covered with water," Chiro explained. "The Demon's Stone is far under the water, in an air-filled cavern. I can lead us there."

"Good," Antauri said. "We'll need to get there fast, so let's—"

"We can't fly the Super Robot through the ocean," Chiro said, cutting the silver monkey off. "The ocean isn't wide-open like you think. There's a bunch of rocks and stuff. We need to go without the Robot."

But, before anyone did anything, Chiro whispered to Antauri, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

They walked away from the others, into Chiro's room. "What do you need, Chiro?" Antauri asked.

"Don't do this."

"Huh?"

"When we get the stone, keep it. Don't bring it to where it needs to go. Return the Shadow Skull to Shruikan. Without all three items, the Skeleton Prince won't come."

"But we want him to come," Antauri said. "We have to kill him."

"Do you think that after billions of years, that KILLING him will STOP him?" Chiro demanded. Antauri was frightened by Chiro ferocity.

Chiro stopped. "I'm sorry, Antauri. I kinda got out of hand." He paused, then ran off to the main room. Antauri watched him go, baffled.

So they got their ocean exploration gear ready. The Super Robot landed foot-deep in water (to the Hyperforce, it would be WAY over their heads). The team launched out of it. They caught a glimpse of Velina, on her skeleton dragon. Mandarin just watched the sky with a blank face as the dragon flew in circles above the water, flapping its wings frantically, trying to find a landing place. The Hyperforce didn't waste any time to see if they did. The monkeys followed Chiro to a very beautiful underwater cavern.

No one was in there. Just a small crystal, handing from the ceiling by a silver chain. It was surrounded by water, and, other than the small piece of land the Hyperforce was standing on and the tiny piece of land the stone was hanging under, there was all water (made the water pool kinda doughnut-shaped around the Demons' Stone). The stone pulsed in a silver color as Chiro approached.

"This is it," he said. He suddenly perked up and pointed behind him. "Hold them off!" he ordered, out of the blue.

"Huh?" Otto said. Suddenly, as Chiro dove into the water and began to swim for the Demons' Stone, Velina attacked Otto from behind. Mandarin ran up beside her.

"Monkey Mind Scream!" Antauri shouted. But his attack had no affect. Velina just blasted him with a dark energy attack.

"Scritch-Scratch Doom Thrower!" Otto screamed. He put his saws together, resulting in a deafening screech of energy that knocked Velina off her feet.

"Spin Shocker!" Gibson said, trying to blast Mandarin with his electrical attack. He only hit the demon monkey once, though, until Sparx stepped in.

"Magna-Bolt Beam Splitter!" Sparx roared, smashing Mandarin with hundreds of tiny, painful electrical bolts.

"Lady Tomahawk!" Nova yelled, bashing Mandarin on the head. But then, she noticed she couldn't see Velina.

"Chiro, look out!" she hear Antauri scream.

Since Chiro was in the water, still swimming to get the stone, he was fully open to Velina's attack. But as the energy beam was about to hit him, an energy shield sprang up around Chiro, knocking Velina's attack backwards. But she had the stone. She flew over to Mandarin and they both warped back outside.

"Man!" Otto said, banging his head on the wall. "Not again!"

"We can't waste any time," Chiro said, pulling Otto away from the wall. "We have to hurry. There's only one place that they can put the three items together."

"Where?" Antauri asked.

"There's a temple," Chiro said. "It's not too far from Shuggazoom. On the planet closest to it." He swallowed. "Hendran."

_But can you survive the birthplace of the first Skeleton Prince?_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: The Skeleton Prince**

_You can't change who you are._

No. I won't listen.

_Listen to me, __boy__. When they find out, they will kill you._

The monkey team would _never_.

_You know nothing._

You don't know them as I do, Skeleton King.

_I created the monkey team, Chiro._

'I created the monkey team.' Give me a break. I know you did. But you became evil and then tried to destroy the only people who were my friends.

_You will destroy the Hyperforce, Chiro. You have the power. It is in your blood._

No. It is in the blood I was forced to live with.

—

"Chiro?"

No answer.

"Chiro!"

Chiro finally snapped out of himself. He looked down at the green monkey. "Huh?"

"You kinda spaced out there for a second," Otto said.

"Oh, sorry," Chiro said.

"Chiro, something has been bothering you for the past few days," Antauri noticed, looking at Chiro with his arms crossed. "Mind telling us?"

"I'm fine," Chiro said. "Don't worry."

But they did. All of them worried about him. Everything starting happening with Antauri's first mention of the Skeleton Prince…

—

"The boy knows too much," Velina said.

"What makes you assume this?" Mandarin asked. They were almost to Hendran.

"He knew both planets to come to," Velina answered. "Amere, Anur Phaetos, and Crysignia. And now, they are also headed to Hendran. How do they know?"

"And all this makes you think that Chiro is the one that knows this information?"

"He is the leader of the Monkey Team," Velina said. "They have to do what he says."

The both sat quietly, for the first time, wondering what they were actually headed into. After a while, as Hendran came into view, they both came up with the only logical conclusion.

"He knows the Skeleton Prince," Velina whispered.

—

The Super Robot finally landed on Hendran. Small skeletons (similar to the Stelakids from Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, but all black and blood-red eyes) roamed around. But they payed no attention to the Hyperforce whatsoever. One even bumped into Otto.

"Hey!" Otto said. He activated his saws, but Chiro's hand on his shoulder stopped him. The small skeleton just continued on its way. They all seemed to be going in random directions.

"They won't bother us, for some reason," Chiro whispered. "Just be quiet and ignore them."

"If they looked like Gibson, that wouldn't be hard for _me_ to do," Sparx said.

Chiro just ignored him and they continued walking. There was just a small stone path in the middle of an empty field. Trees that looked like something out of a horror film dotted the land. The sun, which was barely setting over the horizon, gave the land a deep red appearance.

Chiro led the team to a small building. It looked like an old, wooden house; nothing special. As they went inside, the house seemed smaller on the inside that it looked on the outside. The only piece of décor was a lantern and a small door supposedly leading into a cellar.

"I'm guessing we take that with us?" Otto asked, pointing to the lantern.

"No. We just leave it here and go down into the dark, dark, _dark_ cellar," Sparx said in a spooky voice. "Yes we take it!"

Chiro took the lantern (which, by the way, was already lit) and opened the cellar door. The monkeys filed in, and Chiro went in after them. He passed the lantern to Antauri, who was in the front. The corridor they entered was really thin, so they had to travel in a single file line. The lantern's light radius was not very far, and it seemed like forever till the team reached a huge underground room. A small elevation in the back of the room had three pedestals. One where you would put a sword, one for a stone, and another for the Shadow Skull.

Otto placed the Skull in its place. He turned to Chiro. "Are you sure we should be doing this?"

"To secure evil is our job, Otto," Antauri said. "We must kill the Skeleton Prince."

"And to distribute it is our destiny," a voice said.

The team whipped around to see Velina and Mandarin standing behind them. Suddenly, the team couldn't move. Velina walked casually past. She took the Demons' Stone from Mandarin and placed it in its right place.

"I must say, Hyperforce," Velina said. "It is fitting that you are here to see the final revelation of the Skeleton Prince!"

"Don't you want to know how we knew how to come here?" Chiro asked.

"Yes, but not right now," Velina said. She lifted up the sword, but before she could place it in the right spot…

"Really?" Chiro asked. Somehow, he was standing beside Velina calmly. He gently grabbed the sword from her. But, she didn't react. "Because I thought you were wondering how I knew where to go and what to do with everything. Huh?"

Velina was still speechless. Antauri hadn't ever seen Chiro like this before in his life. Chiro didn't seem like himself. It was almost as if he were possessed by…

"The Skeleton Prince!" Antauri shouted out loud.

Chiro and everyone else looked at him. "Chiro," Antauri said. "Where is he?"

"Where's who?"

"The Skeleton Prince!"

"You think that a teenage boy would know the legend of the Skeleton Prince off the bat?" Chiro wondered, his voice lowering. "I didn't learn it from some poor storyteller. I knew it since the day I was born."

The horrible truth was starting to sink in.

"No…" Nova whispered. "Chiro, why didn't you tell us?"

Chiro boldly approached the pedestal. "Once the sword goes in, then the Skeleton Prince will come. Antauri's my friend, so if he wants to kill the Skeleton Prince, then I'll be glad to let him."

"What?" Velina asked. Both she and Mandarin were confused. "How is this possible?"

"It's possible," Antauri said. "Chiro, you should've told us sooner. We could have helped you."

He jammed the sword into the pedestal. "Then I'll tell you now." Black light shot up around him, and he said, "I'm the Skeleton Prince."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Light and Shadow**

Chiro had changed.

He was now wearing a blood-red cape with a black diamond clip holding it around his neck. He had a crown made of stone (the stuff that the Citadel of Bone is made of) that was similar to Mandarin's. The stone covered his hands, making them like giant claws…claws that could kill. His eyes were a cold red color—with no emotion.

"Chiro, you should have told us!" Antauri said.

"You know why I didn't?" Chiro asked. His voice seemed to echo. "Ever since I was born, everyone hated me. _Everyone_. I had no friends, no family. I had _nothing_. So, I did the only thing I could to get people to forget." He lowered his head, tears streaming down his face. "I ran away. To everyone, I had vanished, so they forgot about the _Skeleton Prince_." He sneered at that last part. "Then, I came back. I changed my name."

"You had a different name?" Otto asked.

"No. Everyone just called me 'Skeleton Prince'. I just changed my name to something that wouldn't raise any suspicions. _Chiro_. It worked. I learned to forget…"

"Forgetting can't change who you are, Chiro," Antauri whispered.

"No, it can't," Chiro agreed. "When you mentioned the Skeleton Prince—me—that first time, I knew you would want to kill me. Well, to you, not _me_—the Skeleton Prince. By just _coming_ here, you doomed my life to returning to the life of the Skeleton Prince. Even I can't control the evil that made me this way. You have to run."

"Chiro, we won't!" Sparx said.

Suddenly, Chiro seemed to change again. His eyes flashed, and he gave a smile and said, "Like any prince, I have to fight to the death to defend my kingdom. Well now…shall we go?"

He lashed out with his claws, and suddenly, Sparx was bashed against the wall. He groaned.

"Chiro!" Nova yelled. "What are you doing?"

"He can't hear you," Antauri said. "Something's wrong."

"No duh!" Otto said.

"This cannot be possible!" Velina still doubted the fact that Chiro was the Skeleton Prince. "How can you be—"

"You doubt me?" Chiro asked. He turned to her.

"Yes."

"I thought you might say that…" A dark energy beam shot out of Chiro's eyes, and hit Velina, knocking her backwards.

"We need to run!" Antauri shouted. "To the Super Robot!"

The Hyperforce ran out of the cellar, back out to the Super Robot, with Chiro chasing after them. He wasn't himself. He was…

Someone else.

"Please, guys!" Chiro said. "Run! Run away from this world! Leave me here! Just _go!_"

He fell to his knees, screaming. Light flashed around him, and then, he stood up. He watched the monkeys run into the still-setting sun.

—

Velina and Mandarin ran after the Hyperforce. For the first time in her life, Velina felt…scared. She knew what the Skeleton Prince was capable of, but with his dark powers enhanced by the Power Primate… He could kill her in an instant.

Suddenly, Antauri leapt out of the shadows and pinned her down. Nova pinned Mandarin to the ground, face-first.

"Velina," Antauri said. "If you value your life, you will listen to us."

"What do you want, you pathetic simian?" Velina asked.

"Help us. You want Chiro stopped as much as we do. We have to work together to get him back to normal."

"And why should I help you?"

"Would you rather die by _my_ hand," Antauri said, lowering his ghost claw to Velina's neck, "or by the hand of a young boy that is more powerful than you? If you don't team up with us—for just this one moment in time—then you'll die one way or the other."

"The Skeleton Prince is an ancient being, with ancient knowledge," Velina said. "Defeating him will no be easy. We will team up with you…_for just this once!_ Never again will we stoop to this level."

So, with that, two teams of mortal enemies team up with each other to stop the most powerful threat to the universe.

A fourteen-year-old boy.

No, not a boy.

_A prince._


	9. Chapter 9

_Would you mind if I hurt you?_

_Understand that I need to_

_Wish that I had other choices_

_Than to hurt the ones I love_

_What have you done now?!_

"So, Antauri," Nova said as they all got into their positions in the Super Robot. "What do we do to stop Chiro? We've never had to fight him like this before."

Antauri watched as Velina and Mandarin got onto their bone dragon (since the Hyperforce didn't trust Mandarin inside the Super Robot, they didn't let him take Chiro's place). "We can't kill him, that's for sure," Antauri said. "Just get him away from everything else, and _I'll_ deal with him."

But just as the Robot was activated and it took a step forward…a figure shot out of nowhere. It was Chiro. He bashed head-first into the Super Robot's chest, knocking it backwards. Chiro stayed hovering in the air, unfazed. The small skeletons the Hyperforce first saw when they arrived on Hendran were lined up. Luckily, the army wasn't that big. Chiro was the main problem. The Super Robot swung a punch at Chiro, but he flew out of the way. Then, the two Fist Rockets shot out. Sparx got lucky and slammed into Chiro, sending him flying backwards. Antauri aimed the eye beams of the Super Robot down at the skeletons on the ground as they tried to swarm over the Super Robot. The small skeletons easily disintegrated under the light.

"Monkey Team!" Antauri shouted. "Shoot me at him!"

Antauri crawled into the cannon the Super Robot had (like in Invasion of the Vreen, but that episode hasn't happened yet). The others shot him out of it.

But Chiro bashed head-first into the Robot again, and the giant machine fell down on its back, ceasing to move. As he backed up, Antauri crashed into Chiro, and they both fell, struggling, to the ground below.

—

"No!" Otto said. He turned the controls in his part of the Robot. "Move, Robot, move!"

"It's not working, Otto!" Gibson shouted. "We're going to have to fight without it!"

"But there's hundreds of itty-bitty skeletons down there!"

But regardless, the Hyperforce got out of the Robot and began to fight hand-to-hand with the small skeleton army. But they were a lot tougher than they looked. Soon, the monkeys became battered, bruised… But they kept fighting.

_Just keep holding on…_

—

Chiro and Antauri finally landed on the ground, far from the others. The both warily circled each other, at a safe distance. Both were cautious of the other's possible attacks.

"Chiro, don't do this," Antauri said. "We can help."

"It was your fault this happened, Antauri," Chiro said. "I can't help anything."

"Just calm down, and let's talk…"

"We're past that now, Antauri," Chiro said. Then, he suddenly seemed to change. "Run," he whispered. "The Skeleton Prince side of me has control. I-I'm not doing any of this. I just can't control myself!" Then, he changed back. "All this time with you; the signs, the warnings. You just had to stick your nose where it didn't belong, huh? Do you want to destroy yourself, and your precious 'team'?"

"Chiro…" Antauri started.

"Don't you realize anything? As the Skeleton Prince, I face the realization that you—Antauri—killed my father. Skeleton King. I can't let you get away with that. He was my _father_." He jabbed his finger at Antauri. "How would you think I would feel if he was murdered by a close friend?"

"He was my creator, Chiro," Antauri answered calmly. "As well as the creator of the rest of the team."

"Then why did you kill him?"

"I couldn't bear to lose you."

That stopped Chiro. He looked at Antauri, seemingly frozen, not moving an inch. But then, he suddenly snapped back to his 'evil' self.

"That still doesn't change—"

"You leave me no choice, Chiro…"

"What're you gonna do? Kill me? You couldn't. Even if you do, I'll be resurrected again, and you'll never see your 'Chiro' again."

Chiro started to laugh, and Antauri lunged forward with his ghost claws…

…and stabbed Chiro in the heart.

Time seemed to stand still. Chiro's eyes were wide open, looking at Antauri with a shocked look on his face. Antauri just concentrated; the Power Primate flowed from him into Chiro. Chiro let out a rough scream, and a flash of light burst out of him. The light formed a wave that flew over the land, accompanied by a lour roar. Lightning flashed in the sky, then all went silent.

Nothing moved.

The monkey team finally opened their eyes—after what seemed forever—to see Antauri standing over Chiro's body. Chiro was finally back to normal. No stone covering his body, no cape, no bone crown.

No life.

Antauri whispered, "The Skeleton Prince is no more."

"Antauri!" Nova shouted, but she knew he couldn't hear him.

_No one could._

—

Velina and Mandarin had vanished sometime later—which was not a surprise. Hopefully, they left for somewhere far from Shuggazoom, but that possibility was unlikely.

Chiro was in the sickbay, wires attached to parts of his body, monitoring him. The rest of the monkeys were sitting in chairs around the room, while Gibson moved around, messing with the machines.

"Well," Gibson said finally. Everyone perked up. "There is no sign of any negative energy whatsoever inside Chiro. I believe he will be fine."

Everyone cheered. Otto actually hugged Gibson (only to be pushed off by him). Sparx hugged Nova, but she didn't push him off. Or hug him back, for that matter.

Suddenly, Chiro groaned and sat up, holding his chest. Gibson had bandaged it up, but there was no wound where Antauri had stabbed him.

"Chiro!" Antauri said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Chiro said softly. He winced. "Ugn… I feel like I've been stabbed with a sword!"

"That's a distinct possibility," Gibson whispered.

"So, you're okay, Chiro?" Antauri asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Antauri, I'm fine," Chiro answered. "A little dazed, though."

"So, that whole Skeleton Prince thing is behind us now, okay?" Sparx asked.

"Skeleton Prince?" Chiro looked at him, confused. "What are you talkin' about?"

They all stared at him.

"Remember?" Otto asked. "You were really an evil prince that tried to kill us?" Nova elbowed him.

"I never tried to kill you guys," Chiro objected. "What—what are you talkin' about?"

They still stared at him.

"You don't remember?" Gibson asked.

"Remember what?"

There was a pause. The monkeys didn't know how to react.

"Okay, whatever, you guys are crazy," Chiro said. "I don't remember what happened, but I know for sure there was no 'Skeleton Prince'."

They decided to let it go. "Maybe what happened interfered with your memory," Gibson said.

"I guess…" Chiro said, lifting a hand to his head.

"Well, it's over now, so get some rest," Antauri told Chiro. "We all should."

Antauri watched as Chiro walked out of the room. One little thought echoed through his head, playing over and over and over.

_I learned to forget…_

—

Later, while the others were in the main room of the Super Robot, laughing and carrying on like they usually did on Shuggazoom, Antauri crept into Chiro's room. He noticed a red book on his bed. He picked it up and opened it. The writing was in ink, and it smeared when Antauri brushed his hand over it. It was fresh.

The words inside said, 'They found out. My past has been unveiled. _Was_ unveiled. Antauri had to do something drastic to get rid of my evil side. But he didn't. He can't. I managed to actually convince the team I forgot _everything_. But I learned a lesson today. Forgetting helps some things. Like this. Maybe, in time, I can forget for real. Maybe, the monkey team will forget too.'

The words on the back of the book said, '#11. Chiro.' Antauri cocked his head, wondering what that meant. He knew once he read the front of the book.

The book fell to the floor.

The words on the outside said, 'Diary of a Skeleton Prince.'

**_THE END…?_**

****This Is version ONE of this old Story. A newer version is being worked on.

THANK YOU FOR READING LOVE YOU LOTS!

-Ashley and Emarelda


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